US: Dreams turned nightmare

In one stroke, the United States has made the future imperfect for 800,000 young undocumented immigrants protected from deportation by DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a Barack Obama era amnesty scheme giving them the right to stay, study or work in their adopted land. The “Dreamers” include 8,000 Indians who may face deportation if a sharply divided US Congress doesn’t legislate a way out in the next six months. But typical of the mixed signals these days from Donald Trump’s America, the US President tweeted the same day that he was urging Congress to “legalise DACA”. This after ordering the evictions in the first place!

Having surrendered their biometrics and personal data to join the amnesty five years ago, the illegal immigrants are now in a quandary: the same data can be used to hound them if Congress goes with the Republican plan to “protect” the interests of native-born Americans. All promises of “walling off” the data will quickly be forgotten if Congress doesn’t save the humanitarian policy of protecting immigrants. The sad part of another great human tragedy engendered by nationalism and exclusive borders lies in people having been allowed to dream - only to have that shattered by this nightmare of protectionism. Critics and liberals are warning the government of the possible damage to the US economy in weeding out members of a bright young generation, while protests are breaking out. The politics of appeasing the majority too can have painful consequences. It’s up to Congress now to give these youngsters a fresh start in the land of opportunity.